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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

NEVER DOWN FOR THE COUNT

NEVER DOWN FOR THE
COUNT

Last week, I reviewed my low points (Spectre) and
satisfactory entries (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) from 2015’s movie franchises. There
were a number of other franchise blockbusters from Terminator
Genisys to Jurassic Worldto Star Wars—which was clearly the biggest,
most high profile, most profitable 2015 franchise entry. However, Terminator
Genisys and Jurassic World didn’t egister on my
personal radar and, as I’m only a casual Star Wars fan, the excitement generated by The Force Awakens left me mostly unaffected…It was a fun film…I’m
glad the hardcore fans enjoyed it…But one viewing was enough for me…

So, in the spirit of self-centric exposition, I now share my
personal choice for the hardest-hitting franchise entry of 2015, which has
nothing to do with dinosaurs, unstoppable machines with artificial
intelligence, or X-wing fighters and Death Stars. The film, which moved me
unashamedly to dampened eyes on several occasions, while stimulating a major
release of endorphins by delivering the perfect high of goosebumps and
emotional thrills carried one name—Creed.

Using Mr. Peabody’s WABAK Machine, we first need to return
to 1976 and a little film that believed it could go the distance—Rocky.
Deftly detailing the underdog story of a boxer on the last train to
Palookaville capriciously matched against the heavyweight champion of the
world, Rocky touched something deep
inside the American psyche. In the film’s emotional epiphany, Rocky realizes he
can’t win, but he is determined to go the
distance. This difficult, but possibly achievable goal tapped into the
subconscious, but core desire of the everyman trapped in an everyday mundane
life.

Filmed in a record twenty-eight days with a paltry $1
million dollar budget, Rocky
ultimately grossed well over $100 million. The movie poster's tagline—His whole life was a million-to-one shot—emphasized
the lowly, simple-minded status of the working-class hero, a good-natured
individual who lacked basic intelligence, but displayed gutsy, optimistic
perseverance while fighting for his dignity.

Sylvester Stallone was immediately inseparable from his
onscreen Rocky persona. In an
underdog story to rival Rocky’s fight
fiction plot, Stallone fought for his original screenplay (after 32 previously
rejected scripts) and insisting on starring in the role the studios wanted to
fill with Robert Redford, Ryan O’Neil, or James Cann.

When the studios were finally swayed by Stallone’s
intractable belief in himself, they did so without much support or enthusiasm.
However, in true Rocky fashion, confronted
by giant opponents—All the President's
Men, Network, and Taxi Driver—and against all studio odds,
Rocky garnered ten nominations and
three Oscars, including Best Picture,
and a franchise was born.

The first four Rocky sequels
were hits and misses with the critics, but winners with the public. Rocky spoke
to us—reflecting our own impossible struggles. As the lines between the hype of
real world fights and fictional boxing movie fireworks blurred, the fiction of Rocky became truth...

While Star Wars fans often disparage the three
Star Wars prequels, Rocky fans reserve most of their ire for
Rocky-V. While, I personally have a
soft spot for this problematic Rocky
outing, I completely understand how it appeared to bury the franchise in a
pauper’s grave. But anyone who believed Rocky-V
would put the Rocky franchise down
for the count never understood the lesson at the heart of every Rocky movie—It’s not how hard you hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving
forward.

I always get choked up whenever I hear Rocky passionately
deliver the full Shakespearian soliloquy:

Let
me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and
rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are,
it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.
You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

But
it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep
moving forward. It’s How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how
winning is done.

Now,
if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you
gotta be willing to take the hits, and not point fingers and blame other
people. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!

Rocky-V was the
equivalent of Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, and Tommy Gunn all
ganging together to beat Rocky to the canvas. Rocky-V left the film franchise bloody and broken…The critics and
naysayers were convinced of their victory…The franchise couldn’t possibly get
back up…Cue Bill Conti’s iconic brass
intro to Gonna Fly Now (the Rocky theme)…But it did…Like Rocky himself, the
franchise rose from the ashes of defeat on guts alone—and it was ready to
deliver an extra-large serving of Rocky-style
whoop-ass!

In 2006, sixteen years after Rocky-V seemed to put the franchise down for the count, Rocky Balboa lifted the film series off
the canvas one last time to deliver a knockout punch. Anyone who ever doubted
the power or sincerity embodied by the character of Rocky—whose statue in
Philadelphia has always been a touchstone and a pilgrimage destination for the
faithful—got a fist in the face and a very loud, “Take that!”

From the very start of Rocky
Balboa, the transition back to the beating heart of the original Rocky rings clear…The undefeated
heavyweight champion of the world, Mason The
Line Dixon cannot get a fight with any challenge who the public considers
worthy.

When a controversy over a video game simulation between Rocky,
the former champ, and Dixon (based on an actual Rocky Marciano-Muhammad Ali
video game simulation) ends with Rocky victorious via TKO, Dixon needs an
actual match to regain respect. The thread of the audience’s suspension of disbelief is pulled tight,
but Rocky fans are completely forgiving because they know what’s coming next.

The
set-up is ridiculous, but we don’t care. We depend on Rocky never backing
down—if he does, we are all lost. No matter how old he is, Rocky is going to
punch his way into an inspiring training montage and the key element of the
original Rocky—the hopeless underdog
against the undefeated champion—is ready to play out again.

Rocky Balboa (not Rocky VI, because apparently the studios didn’t think Rocky fans could count higher than five
or figure out Roman numerals beyond V)
restored the luster and returned the franchise to its glory days by adding a
fitting, perfect, ending…

It
was over…Done…Rocky and the franchise
had gone the distance, exiting the
ring with head held high and Bill Conti’s music swelling tears in all our eyes…

But then
it wasn’t done…

Somebody,
somewhere, had a rejected boxing movie script, which could have been the
storyline for Rocky Balboa, but had
thankfully never risen to the level of consideration. However, with the success
of Rocky Balboa, this script now
promised an easy payday—and the embarrassment of Grudge Match became a reality…

Of
course, nobody connect to Grudge Match
would ever admit to a Rocky connection.
Just because it starred Sylvester Stallone as a retired boxer finally agreeing
to a rematch with his greatest opponent (Robert DeNiro) why would anyone
connect it with Rocky?

Sure…okay…right…

Imagine
what would have happened if Rocky and Apollo Creed had never agreed to a
rematch until they were both over the hill and you have the whole misguided
premise of Grudge Match and why it is
essentially—if unofficially—Rocky 6.5.

Grudge Match was not pretty—more parody
than homage. The bad taste it left in the mouth of critics and Rocky fans alike demanded recompense.
But wasn’t it far too late? Wasn’t Rocky
over, done, finished?

Are
you kidding me?

This
is Rocky we’re talking about…The hell
with going the distance…Rocky was ready to fight back, to even name
the round for the knockout—and the name of the round was Creed…

In a
major change from the Stallone written and directed Rocky entries, wunderkind director Ryan Cooglar takes control of Creed in both capacities. What is even
more interesting is Cooglar brought Creed
to Stallone as opposed to Stallone wanting to do another Rocky film and seeking out Cooglar to direct. Why is this
important? It means Creed was
Cooglar’s vison from the start…Cooglar’s love of the Rocky franchise was clear making his commitment to Creed personal…Cooglar had a complete
understanding of what makes Rocky
tick and exactly where the story needed to go in order to become compelling to
a new generation.

The
storyline for Creed is a natural next step—Adonis Johnson is boxing champion Apollo
Creed’s bastard son. Adonis never knew his famous father, who died before
Adonis was born, and is resentful of his linage. However, boxing is in his
blood, and the ring is the one place where he can release all the anger he carries.
Forced by circumstances, he seeks out Rocky, asking the retired champ to be his
trainer. The rest of the story is quickly apparent—Rocky will be reluctant…Rocky
will see much of Apollo in Adonis…Rocky will give in…Rocky will train Adonis…A
fluke of circumstances will give Adonis a title shot…Adonis will be a huge
underdog facing certain destruction in the ring at eh hands and fists of an
undefeated champion…

But
Creed is not content to settle for
this simple storyline. Like Adonis and Rocky before him, Creed has heart…There is more here than cliché, there are
humanistic, heart rendering twists, which not only add to the luster of the Rocky franchise, but show Sylvester
Stallone—Rocky himself—to have more
depth, more heart, than he has ever been given credit. Any and all nominations
and awards given to Stallone as a result of his performance in Creed are more
than deserved.

Creed does everything right.The film
touches all the legacy points Rocky fans expect, while also bringing a new
legacy into reality. When the strains of Bill Conti’s original Rocky theme are finally allowed to blast from the
theatre speakers, the audience is wound so tight they invariably burst into
spontaneous applause…and from that moment on, throats tighten, tears well,
hearts thump and chills reign in the emotions of every Rocky fan.

Creed is not the perfect ending for the Rockyfranchise…It is the perfect
beginning…